Detection of Pathogenic in Captive Chelonians (-Linnaeus, 1766) in the Brazilian Amazon.

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of great importance for One Health. In this context, the Amazonian biome may harbor numerous hosts for spp. that contribute to the maintenance of the pathogen in the environment. Some reptiles, such as chelonians, have been little studied in terms of their involvement with leptospires. The objective of this study was to detect spp. DNA in turtles kept in captivity in a region of the Brazilian Amazon. A total of 147 samples of blood ( = 40), cloacal fluid ( = 27), cloacal lavage ( = 40), and stomach ( = 40) were collected from 40 chelonians. After DNA extraction, the samples were subjected to amplification of a 331 base pair product of the 16S rRNA gene using the Lep1 and Lep2 primers. PCR products were Sanger sequenced, assembled, and subjected to online blast search and phylogenetic analysis. Of the animals tested, 40% (16/40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 25-55) had at least one or two samples positive for spp. Considering the total number of samples collected, 12.93% (19/147) were positive, being blood clots (27.5%; 11/40), followed by cloacal washings (10%; 4/40), cloacal fluid (11.11%; 3/27) and gastric washings (2.5%; 1/40). Of these, 11 samples were sequenced and showed 99% to 100% identity with sequences, which was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. This is the first study to detect pathogenic DNA in chelonians in a region of the Brazilian Amazon. It has been concluded that turtles in captivity have been exposed to pathogenic .